"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard United Airlines Flight 930, nonstop service to London Heathrow. My name is Sarah Radcliffe, and I will be your purser on today's flight. Please pay attention to the safety video highlighting the safety features of this Boeing 777. Thank you for choosing the LESBIAN-friendly skies today."

17 June 2009

Gender transition in China

China is said to be considering the formalization of the gender transition process, according to a BBC report.

The proposals sound a lot like what South Korea enacted in 2006. It is less about the transperson him/herself, and more about preserving the Confucian social hierarchy and gender roles. Only singles over 20 years old will be able to apply for legal gender change, and even then, family notification/consent will be required. I'd also presume that a transwoman who doesn't live up to the stereotype (in other words, anyone who's not a hyper-feminine flaming boycrazy fag queen) will not be cleared at all; after all, trans lesbians, like me, are an unheard-of concept in Asia.

Nevertheless, having a consistent gender transition rule is not a bad thing at all. It does allow for a legitimate way to establish a transperson's new identity. I do hope that post-transition, a Chinese transperson can have full heterosexual marriage and adoption rights as well; South Korea ensured this with its regulations, and this is better than what many US transpeople can claim.